The Chronicles of Yoga

Yoga cites to schematic physical and mental guidelines originating in India. This is connected with selfless practices in both Hinduism and Buddhism. In Hinduism, it also refers to one of the six standard schools of Hindu philosophy, and to the objective toward which that school directs its practices.

Key branches of yoga include Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, and Hatha Yoga. Raja Yoga, assembled in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, and just known as yoga in the context of Hindu beliefs, is part of the Samkhya rituals. Many other Hindu texts talk about features of yoga, counting the Bhagavad Gita ,Upanishads, the Shiva Samhita, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, and various Tantras.

The Sanskrit word yoga has many meanings, and is resultant from the Sanskrit root yuj, means “to control”, “to yoke” or “to unite”. Translations include “fusion”, “unite”, “unification”, “combination”, and “means”. Apart from India, the term yoga is typically associated with Hatha Yoga and its asanas or as a form of exercise. An skillful practitioner of Yoga is called a Yogi or Yogini.

Some steatite seals discovered at Indus Valley Civilization (3300–1700 BC) sites disclose figures in a yoga- or meditation-like stance, “a form of ritual discipline, suggesting a precursor of yoga”, according to Indus archeologist Gregory Possehl. He spots sixteen specific “yogi glyptic” in the body of Mature Harappa artifacts that advise Harappa devotion to “ritual discipline and concentration”, and that the yoga pose “may have been used by deities and humans alike.” A lot of other researchers support some kind of connection between the Indus Valley seals and later yoga and meditation practices.

Karel Werner writes, “Archeological discoveries allow us therefore to speculate with some justification that a wide range of Yoga activities was already known to the people of pre-Aryan India.” Dr. Farzand Masih, Chairman, Punjab University Archaeology Department as depicting a “yogi”, described a seal recently uncovered in the Cholistan desert.

Thomas McEvilley writes that “The six mysterious Indus Valley seal images…all exclusive of exemption show figures in a position identified in hatha yoga as mulabhandasana or perhaps the closely linked utkatasana or baddha konasana…

The most largely known of these descriptions was named the “Pashupati seal” by its pioneer, John Marshall, who thought that it symbolized a “proto-Shiva” figure. Many new establishments discount the idea that this “Pashupati” (Lord of Animals) symbolizes a Shiva or Rudra figure. Gavin Flood distinguishes the Shiva or Rudra view as “tentative”, and goes on to declare that it is not apparent from the ‘Pashupati’ seal that the figure is seated in a yoga posture, or that the shape is intentional to represent a human figure.

Whereas the earliest spiritual practices are vaguely hinted at in the Vedas, the abstinent practices are referenced in the Brahma as (900 BC and 500 BC), early
commentaries on the Vedas. The Rig Veda, first of the Hindu scripture mentions the practice.

An early mention to meditation is refined in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, one of the earliest Upanishads (900 BC). The main textual basis for the developing concept of Yoga are the middle Upanishads, ( 400 BC), the Mahabharata (5th BC), and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (200 BC-300 BC).

Hatha yoga has become madly popular as a purely physical exercise regimen divorced of its original purpose. Presently, it is likely that about 30 million Americans practice hatha yoga. But, the traditional practice is still to be found in the Indian subcontinent. The guru-shishya (teacher-student) connection that exists without need for permit from non-religious educational institutions, and which gave rise to all the great yogis who made way into global awareness in the 20th century, has been maintained in India, Nepal and Tibet.

In India, whose Hindu population combines to a staggering 80 crores, Yoga is a commonly used word. It isn’t strange to spot nation performing Surya namaskaram (a yogic set of asana and pranayam dedicated to Surya, the Sun) in the dawn or body treatment based on Yoga. While a greater part of the population does not essentially practice Yoga in its whole, many have in their lives rich practices and beliefs derived from Yoga. On the other hand, for Hindu holy-men, Yoga is a elemental part of life.